Vacuum cleaner



Sept 17, 1957 Filed Sept. 6. 1955 C. H. SPARKLIN VACUUM CLEANER 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Charleafifli'zmr/zh BY 5 e l I Sept 17, 1957 c.H. SPARKLIN VACUUM CLEANER Filud Sept. 6, 1955 28 27a, 7 i9 5 J7 i 21 HI/ I l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Charley? BY 2 2 IN V EN TOR.

will,

United States Patent M VACUUM CLEANER Charles H. Spnrklin, Chicago,111., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Whirlpool Corporation, acorporation of Delaware This invention relates to a vacuum cleaner ofthe type that is adapted to be propelled over a floor by means of ahandle.

Vacuum cleaners are in general of two main types. One type is that whichis adapted to be propelled by means of a handle over the carpet or othersurface that is being cleaned. This type customarily employs a motor andfan unit in a wheeled housing which also contains the suction inlet anddirt laden air passage and which also usually contains a rotatable brushthat is rotated against the' surface being cleaned. In this'type ofvacuum cleaner, the dirt laden air stream customarily is drawnrearwardly and directed into a collapsible dirt separating member in theform of a bag that is suspended from the handle.

The other type of vacuum cleaner is the self-contained tank or canistertype wherein the motor and fan are enclosed within a casing and the dirtseparating member itself is also enclosed within this casing so thateverythingis hidden from view. In this type the cleaning is done bymeans of a cleaning'tool held on the end of a pipe-like wand which isconnected by means of a flexible hose to an inlet on the vacuum cleaner.

The cleaner of this invention combines the features of both types ofvacuum cleaners in that it includes a wheeled housing that is adapted tobe propelled over the surface being cleaned by means of a handle and italso includes a dirt separating member hidden from view within arelatively rigid container. The vacuum cleaner of this invention has anumber of advantages over prior types of cleaners. Thus, it is moreattractive as the dirt separatingmember or bag is kept entirely out ofsight in a container. In a preferred construction, this container isrelatively rigid and the dirt separating member is a disposable bag,such as a paper bag, that may be-easily inserted therein and removedtherefrom. Other advantageswill be discussed in the description .of theembodiment of the invention as shown in the drawings. Further advantageswill be apparent from the description of this embodiment as shown in thedrawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of'awacuum cleaner embodying theinvention.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially alongline22 of Figure. 1. r J

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substam tiallyalong line3.- 3 of Figure 2. p V V Figure 4 a transverse sectional view takensubstantially along line 44of Figure.3.

Figure 5v is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line5 5 ofFigure 1. p Figure 6 is a bottom view ofthe wheeledhousing of thevacuum cleaner. I j V The vacuumcleaner shown in the accompanyingdrawings includesa,wheeledjhousing 10 supported on spaced wheels 11 forpropelling over the surface being cleaned by means of ahandle 12. Thishandle is movably at-, tached to the housing 10 as by means of a hinge13. S uspendedlfrom the handle 12 adjacent to the top thereof isanelongated essentially cylindrical and relatively rigid v polyethylene.

lwiiziz Patented Sept. 17, 1957 container 14 that may be suspended fromthe handle adjacent to the top thereof as by a chain 15. The container14 may be made of a thin metal, phenol-aldehyde resin or similarsynthetic or of any similar material desired.

The wheeled housing 10 has a relatively low front portion 16 and a domedportion 17 adjacent to the rear of the housing. The front portion 16 isprovided with a transverse bottom opening 10a adapted to be arrangedadjacent to and above the surface being cleaned. Immediately above thisopening 10a, there is positioned a transverse elongated brush 18provided with oppositely located brush elements 19. The brush 18 isrotatably mounted audit is rotated by means of an endless belt 20 whichengages the brush 18 adjacent to the center thereof and which extendsrearwardly and around the drive shaft 21 of a motor 22. The dirt ladenair inlet opening 10a,

brush 18, driving belt 20, motor shaft 21, and motor 22 are purelyconventional and are of the ordinary type usually used in vacuumcleaners adapted to be propelled over a surface by means of a handle.

The wheeled housing 10 of the vacuum cleaner is provided with wallsincluding the bottom wall 23, top wall 24, and side walls 25 forming anair passage leading from the air inlet 10a toward the rear of the bottomof the cleaner so that the air will exhaust out a generally cylindricaltubular portion 10b. 7 V

The motor 22 in the embodiment shown is vertically arranged within thedomed portion 17 with the motor being mounted within an enclosingcylinder 26 within the portion 17. Associated with the upper end of themotor 22 in the customary manner is a multistage fan unit 27 of usualconstruction having an air inlet 27a adjacent to the top thereof so thatthe air is drawn down through the fan and through the motor for coolingthe motor. The motor and fan unit is of ordinary construction and is soarranged that the fan stages are rotated by the end of the motor shaftthat is opposite to the end used for rotating the belt 20. In theembodiment shown, the top. of the domed portion 17 is closed by means ofa removable cover 28.

The intermediate wall 24 and the Wall forming the domed portion 17 inconjunction with the enclosing cylinder 26 form an air passage 29leading from the second tubular portion 10c. In the embodiment shown,the tubular portions 101: and are arranged one above the other. However,if desired, they can be arranged side by side.

Air that is drawn within the tubular portion 10c is drawn into the fan27 and down through the motor 22 into the interior of the enclosingcylinder 26. From here the air is exhausted through oppositely locatedlateral passages 30 to be exhausted through the bottom wall 23 of thevacuum cleaner.

The container 14 is of generally cylindrical construction and isprovided adjacent to the bottom surface thereof with a longitudinaltransverse partition 14a. This partition divides the interior of thecontainer into a pair. of compartments 31 and 32. The bottom compartment31 is of considerably smaller cross-sectional area than is the topcompartment 32. The bottom end 14b of the container is provided with apair of cylindrical extensions 14c and 14a. The bottom extension isconnected to the first tubular portion 10b on the housing 16 by means ofan accordion-pleated flexible conduit 33, which is preferably made of asynthetic material, such as flexible The upper extension 14d isconnected to the second tubular portion 100 by a similar flexibleconduit 34. As the conduits are flexible and accordionpleated, thehandle 12 may be moved throughout its entire range of movement withoutdisrupting the tubular connections. As is customary in a cleaner of thistype,

'3 the handle may be moved from an erect storage position to a loweredposition, where it is substantially parallel to the floor in order thatthe housing may be moved under pieces of furniture and the like during,the cleaning operation.

The upper end of the container 14 is provided with a removable capmember mounted at one edge on the adjacent portion of the container 14as by means of a hinge 36. The side of the cap member 35 opposite to thehinge 36 is removably latched in position by means of a toggle latch 37or the like. The cap member 35 is sealed to the upper edge of thecontainer 14 as by means of a gasket 38. The upper edge of the partition14a is spaced from the plane defining the upper edge of the container 14so as to provide space for a conduit-member 39 that is formed integrallywith the cap member 35. As is shown most clearly in Figures 2 and 4, theconduit member 39 has sloped side walls converging toward the center ofthe compartment 32 and merging to form a downwardly extendingcylindrical extension portion 39a. The walls forming the cylindricalextension portion 39a are essentially parallel to the walls of thecontainer 14.

The conduit member 39 is substantially sealed with respect to the upperedge of the partition 14a by means of a gasket 40 mounted on this upperend of the partition. The inner end of the cylindrical extension portion39a is adapted to receive the upper end of an elongated disposable dirtseparating member 41, which preferably is a paper bag of the ordinarytype which is adapted to filter out the dirt and other foreign matterfrom an air stream conducted into the interior of the bag. One end ofthe bag is provided with a thin rubber diaphragm 42 that is flexible andthat contains a center hole so that the diaphragm may be stretched overthe extension portion 39a in the manner illustrated in Figure 2 to makesealing contact therewith. The inner end of this extension portion isprovided with an outwardly directed flange 39b maid in holding the paperbag 41 inplace.

When the vacuum cleaner is in operation, a dirt laden air stream isdirected by means of the motor and fan unit 22 and 27 through theopening 10a, passage 43. formed by the walls 23, 24-, and 25, and outthe first tubular portion 10b into the flexible conduit 33;. From theconduit 33, the dirt laden air is drawn through the compartment 31 andthrough the conduit member 39 into the interior of the bag 41 that islocated within the compartment 32. As the bag 41 is porous, preferablyof porous paper, substantially all of the dirt and foreign matter isfiltered from the air streamandd remains within the bag. The filteredair then flows from the compartment 32 through the flexible conduit 34,through the air passage 29, through the fan 27. and motor 22 and:through the side passages 30 where it is exhausted out the'bottom I ofthe vacuum cleaner. V V

When the bag 41 is completely contaminated with dirt, it may easily beremoved and replaced with a clean bag. In order to do so, it is onlynecessary to'unlatch the cap member 35 and rotate it in a clockwisedirection as shown in Figure 2. As the conduit member 39 forms a part ofthe cap member, this upward and rearward rotation of the cap memberdraws the top of the bag from within the compartment 32 and it is then asimple matter to remove the bag from the extension portion 39a andreplace it with a clean bag. The end of -the clean bag will be insertedin the compartment 32 and the cap member 35 rotated back to the positionshown in Figure 2 and latched in position.

In order to convert the cleaner from on-the-floor to ofi-the-fioorcleaning, the cap member 35 is provided with an opening 35a aligned withthe inwardly extending extension portion 39a of the conduit 39. When thevacuum cleaner is used for normal on-the-floor cleaning, this opening isclosed by a removable plug 44. However, when the cleaner is used forofl-the-floor cleaning, this plug 44 may be removed and the cylindricalrigid end 45 of a flexible hose may be inserted through the opening 35aso that the inner end of the member 45 is held within the extensionportion 39a of the conduit 39. This places the interior of the rigid end45, and thus of the hose, in direct communication with the interior ofthe dirt separating member 41 for off-the-floor cleaning. This functionof the flexible hose including the rigid end portion 45 is purelyconventional and the hose operates in its ordinary manner.

The structure of this invention has a number of new and unobviousadvantages. Thus, the dirt separating member or bag 41 is kept entirelyhidden by the container 14. This results in a much more pleasingappearance as there is no collapsible bag in view, which often is dirtyand unsightly. The container 14, which contains the bag 41, may be madequite long because the handle itself is long. This results in arelatively small cross-section of the container yet provides sufiicientarea for the bag 41 so that the bag may be used for a relatively longperiod of time without requiring replacement.

Although disposable paper bags have been proposed for use in. handletype vacuum cleaners, these have ordinarily been employed within aflexible cloth bag. Not only is the invention much more pleasing inappearance,

- but it is also much easier to install and remove the disposable bag asthe container 14 is rigid and the bag 41 is at least partially removedtherefrom when the cap member 35 is rotated to an open position. Inaddition, the bag 41 is easy to remove without requiring undue stoopingas the cap member 35 is adjacent to the top of the handle 12 and is thusa considerable distance from the floor.

, Having described my invention as related to the embodiment shown inthe accompanying drawings, it is my intention that the invention be notlimited by any of the details of description, unless otherwisespecified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scopeas set out in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A'vacuum cleaner, comprising: a wheeled housing having a suction airinlet; a motor and fan in said housing; walls. in said housing definingan air passage including said suction air inlet and an air outlet; ahandle attached to said wheeled housing for moving the same over a sur'face; a relatively rigid container adjacent to and supported by saidhandle adapted to contain a removable dirt separating member and havingone end. adjacent to said housing air outlet; a flexible conduit memberconnecting said air outlet with the interior of said container; walls insaid housing defining a second suction air passage including, said fanand'fa casing air inlet adjacent to said air outlet; a longitudinalpartition dividing the interior of said container. into a pair of airpassages, one of which communicates. withsaid. conduit member and theother of which contains said dirt separating member, said air passagescommunicating with each other at the upper end of the container by meansofa conduit to which. said separating member is adapted to be releasablyattached; and a second flexible conduit member connecting said casingair inlet and the housing end of said other air passage.

2. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein said upper end of the containeris closed by a removable cap member of which said conduit is a part, thecap member having a normally closed opening aligned with the separatingmember end of said conduit for receiving a suction conduit for use inotf-the-floor cleaning.

7 3. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a wheeled housing having a suctionairinlet; a motor and fan in said housing; a handle attached tosaidwheeled housing for moving the same over a surface; a relativelyrigid container adjacent to'said housing adapted to contain a removabledirt separating. member; and means including said fan for directing dirtladen air in a passage from said housing air inlet into and through saiddirt separating member for separating dirt from said air, said containerbeing provided with a partition therein dividing the same into a pair ofair flow conduits, one of which is adapted to contain said dirtseparating member, said conduits being connected at one end by acylindrical conduit to one end of which said separating member isadapted to be releasably attached.

4. A vacuum celaner, comprising: a wheeled housing having a suction airinlet; a motor and fan in said housing; Walls in said housing definingan air passage including said suction air inlet and an air outlet; ahandle attached to said wheeled housing for moving the same over asurface; a relatively rigid container adjacent to and supported by saidhandle adapted to contain a removable dirt separating member and havingone end adjacent to said housing air outlet; a flexible conduit memberconnecting said air outlet with the interior of said container; andmeans associated with said container for directing air from said outletinto said separating member, said container being provided with alongitudinal partition dividing the interior into a pair of airpassages, one of which communicates with said conduit member and theother of which contains said dirt separating member, said air passagescommunicating with each other at the upper end of the container by meansof a conduit to which said sepa- 25 rating member is adapted to bereleasably attached.

S. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a wheeled housing having a suction airinlet; a motor and fan in said housing; walls in said housing definingan air passage including said suction air inlet and an air outlet; ahandle attached to said wheeled housing for moving the same over asurface; a relatively rigid container adjacent to and supported by saidhandle adapted to contain a removable dirt separating member and havingone end adjacent to said housing air outlet; a flexible conduit memberconnecting said air outlet with the interior of said container; andmeans associated with said container for directing air from said outletinto said separating member, said container being provided with alongitudinal partition dividing the interior into a pair of airpassages, one of which communicates with said conduit member and theother of which contains said dirt separating member, said air passagescommunicating with each other at the upper end of the container by meansof a conduit to which said separating member is adapted to be releasablyattached, said upper end of the container being closed by a removablecap member of which said conduit is a part.

Dow Nov. 5, 1935 Kent Mar. 10, 1936

